Day: June 3, 2022

Pushing the envelope a bit

I pushed it a bit..and I have a slight bit of soreness in my right shoulder…upper arm really..but much after the fact. I think that I know why.

Some mild tingles and the walk was about .3-.4 miles longer than almost completely comfortable; 1-2 level pain at the end.

PT (shorter; no abs )

walk; felt great at the start; ok at mile 1 but wanted a sub 14 min pace.

Swim: 1650; chase (did not catch) Bob F. in my 200’s.

Swim: 600 of 50 side, 50 either back or breast

200 of 25 front kick, 25 free.

200 in 3:33

100 back

200 in 3:32

100 back

250 kick drills with fins.

Weight: 203.7 before swimming, 202.6 after.

Options

I meet with the surgeon on June 7. What will happen? I do have spondylolisthesis at the L5-S1 level, and the cause is a chronic pars defect. So..degenerative or isthmic ? I can’t tell; that is why I need a doctor.

Note: he says that the pain level for his operative patients starts with 7 of 10 and ends with 1-2.

Right now, I am maybe a 1 at rest and the pain rises to maybe a 4 at 2 miles of walking, 5 on a bad day. It doesn’t stop me, but the worst pain that I experience encourages me to rest a bit before moving on..and makes me balk at extra walking. From here.

So, it appears that I’ll have 3 options:

  1. Manage as is.
  2. Injection of some sort..to “break the cycle of inflammation.
  3. Surgery..either decompression or a L5-S1 fusion.

I almost fear 1 the most as, well, improvement ..ok, there has been some, has been at a snail’s pace. But I do have a longer “walk with no previous stretching” range than I did before, and my “to the point of being unpleasant” walking range has extended from 1 to 2 miles.

Time will tell. But it appears that I would be able to return to sports..eventually.

Today’s workout:

I timed it; it was 1:52 minutes and no bench pressing today.

Segments: 24 minutes indoor PT

56 minutes outside PT plus pull ups: 12 sets of 5, including 2 chin, 1 wide, 2 mixed grip.

Push ups: 30 incline, 30 decline, 20 deficit, 20 regular

32 minutes indoor weights, including: 3 sets of 10 high incline (88, 93, 93..felt easy, little strain)

3 sets of 10 1 armed rows: dropped the weight a LOT when I took the bicep out of the motion; I have to work on my position

curls: 3 sets of 10 x 50

deadlifts: 10 x 134 (not good), 10 x 184 (much better), low

10 x 260 high (8 inch); these gave me a nice leg pump.

Personal: I did some math; trying to work out some details.